IBM and Maersk Join Forces to Develop a Blockchain Solution for Global Shipping

IBM and the integrated transport and logistics company Maersk, a
global leader in container shipping, intend to establish a joint venture to
provide efficient and secure solutions for conducting global trade using
distributed ledger technology (DLT).

The two companies plan to develop a global trade digitization
platform built on open standards and designed for use by the entire global
shipping ecosystem, and to form a new company dedicated to the platform.

The initiative was announced in a joint press release published by
both IBM and Maersk. The new
global trade platform will leverage DLT to
improve the cost of transportation, lack of visibility and inefficiencies
in paper-based processes.

“The major advances IBM has made in blockchain have shown that the
technology can foster new business models and play an important role in how the
world works by building smarter businesses,” said Bridget van Kralingen, senior
vice president of IBM Global Industries, Solutions and Blockchain. “Our joint
venture with Maersk means we can now speed adoption of this exciting technology
with the millions of organizations who play vital roles in one of the most
complex and important networks in the world, the global supply chain. We
believe blockchain will now emerge in this market as the leading way companies
seize new, untapped economic opportunities.”

According to data provided by the two companies, more than $4
trillion in goods are shipped each year, and more than 80 percent of the goods
consumers use daily are carried by the ocean shipping industry. Modern
DLT-based digital solutions could significantly reduce the cost of the required
trade documentation, which is estimated to reach one-fifth of the actual
physical transportation costs.

“This new company marks a milestone in our strategic efforts to
drive the digitization of global trade,” said Vincent Clerc, chief commercial
officer at Maersk and future chairman of the board for the new joint venture. “The
potential from offering a neutral, open digital platform for safe and easy ways
of exchanging information is huge, and all players across the supply chain
stand to benefit. By joining our knowledge of trade with IBM’s capabilities in
blockchain and enterprise technology, we are confident this new company can
make a real difference in shaping the future of global trade.”

IBM and Maersk have been collaborating since 2016, jointly
developing solutions built on IBM’s DLT, which is provided through the IBM
Cloud and powered by the Hyperledger
Fabric framework. High-profile companies, including General Motors and
Procter & Gamble, are exploring ways to use the new platform to streamline
their complex supply chains.

The new company will initially focus on commercializing a shipping
information pipeline for the exchange of information about shipment events in real-time
and a paperless trade solution to digitize and automate all paperwork filings.
This could help ensure that all required approvals are in place via DLT-based
smart contracts.

Michael J. White, former president of Maersk Line in North
America, will be CEO of the new company, headquartered in the New York
metropolitan area, which is expected to become fully operational within six
months.

“Today, a vast amount of resources are wasted due to inefficient
and error-prone manual processes,” said White. “The pilots confirmed our
expectations that, across the industry, there is considerable demand for
efficiency gains and opportunities coming from streamlining and standardizing
information flows using digital solutions. Our ambition is to apply these
learnings to establish a fully-open platform whereby all players in the global
supply chain can participate and extract significant value. We look forward to
further expanding our ecosystem of partners as we progress toward a global
solution.”